Using Learning Data: Sustainable Practice

The following are suggestions to help you integrate using learning data into your teaching practice, with the understanding that implementing change over time means being purposeful, planful, and giving yourself time to work toward manageable goals.

Design for useful data

  1. Use due dates. 
    • Not only is this important information for your students, due dates help organize data and makes it possible to see classroom trends. 
  2. All assignments and activities should be included in the Canvas Gradebook for the data to provide a holistic insight into the course.
    • For assignments supported by external tools or apps
      • if integrated, check"external tool" option in the assignment settings
      • if not integrated, use "no submission" option in the assignment settings
    • For activities implemented in the face-to-face classroom, use "no submission" option in the assignment settings
  3. Using Modules to organize and sequence course materials helps you and your students be aware of course structure which impacts data collection and analysis.
  4. Only materials in the Canvas course site can generate data. Links to sites or materials outside of the Canvas site - Google docs, links to websites, or external videos - will not generate data within Canvas.
  5. To enable the system to track analytics for video, either
    • embed a video on a Canvas Page using the Embed Kaltura Media button in the Rich Content Editor, or 
    • add the video to the Media Gallery (a set of selected videos for a specific course). 

Teach with useful data

  1. Grade student submissions (using the gradebook) in a timely manner to make sure that the data available to you and your students accurately represents student progress.
  2. Consider anonymous grading (Links to an external site.) so that bias does not impact data.
  3. Communicate with students 
    • Your students are your partners in this endeavor; transparency is key to building trust. Students should know that you are using learning analytics  data to improve the course and, when you ask them for feedback, should understand how you plan to use it. 
    • Make sure that students know what data they have access to, and commit to designing and administering a site in a way that assures this data is useful and timely.
    • Use learning analytics tools to reach a subset of students (perhaps they have late or missing assignments, have performed poorly, are in the middle of the pack but could improve, etc.). 
    • Consider creating boilerplate communication samples that you could re-use for subsets of students with distinct needs; include support next steps and resources for these students.

Establish good habits

  1. Make time to regularly review learning data in your course. For instance, you might establish a bi-monthly schedule.
  2.  Identify significant moments in the course to review data. For instance,
    • the end of a learning unit or assignment
    • The end of the semester when you have an opportunity to reflect on the past semester and look ahead to the next.
  3. Make time to regularly review learning data in your course. 
  4. Give yourself time to implement changes.
  5. Develop your support network.